Indicia mounting means for belt buckles and the like



July 2, 1957 o. KA'rzMAN INDICIA MOUNTING MEANS FOR BELT BUCKLES AND THE LIKE Filed July 17, 1953 INVENToR. SCA@ @T2A/(AN,

United States Patent INDICIA MOUNTING MEANsroRwrELriucKnEs AND THE LIKE Oscar Katzman, -Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 1'7, 11953, Serial No. 368,65Sl

2 Claims. .(01.24-163) is described and related to :a belt buckle, itis understood that the construction described herein .may be employed for mounting `various yother ornamental designs .and yinsignias upon a base .or mounting member.

In such belt buckles, the structure and arrangement tor mounting selected initial letters rmust be .simple -so .that a clerk may quickly, positively .and accurately ,position and secure the selected initials in the buckle mounting member. The construction must be easily operable so that at the time of salethe assembly ofthe selected initials and base member which form. the bucklemay bereadily accomplished.

Prior proposed belt buckles have included interchange able or removable initial letters or otherinsignia. which were positioned and mounted by sliding the .selected y initials in parallel, opposed grooves formed on a mounting portion of the buckle. Various means werefemployed to hold the initials in proper spaced .relationship and to retain them securely so that they would not .bev

grooves in a buckle member, which was .made-usually of 4 soft metal, resulted in diiculty ini-the .insertion andssliding of the initial members in said grooves. The fsoft metal of the buckle was likely to be bent-slightly out'of shape during handling so that the initials could .not be freely .slidable in the grooves. In addition, ai :slightly roughened spot on the Walls of the grooves would `cause diiiculty in sliding the initialfletters vinto their .proper position. Such prior belt buckles oftense'mployedlialconstruction wherein the initials became loose duringebuckling and unbuckling. In such prior lconstructions-#the initials-were often the principal part of the buckle grasped by the wearer when rthe belt was unbuckledand` such grasping caused the initials to change position andl sometimes become disassembled'ifrom the lmounting member.

This invention contemplates ya simple, etfective'buekle construction Whereina minimum numbenof` 4partsare employed -and each of said parts is simply'made and capable of easy assembly.' The'belt buckle contemplated by this invention eliminates the use ot' parallel, spaced grooves .for slidably positioning `the indicia members. The indicia members .employed in the belt buckle'. of this invention are quickly'and easilylocated by. employing large openings'in the `base or mounting member of 'the lbuckle `which-'are easily seen and which vare spaced apart v'apred'etermined distance; ."Themindicia member ottliis 2,797,462 Patented Ju1y` 2, 1957 .readily determined. The belt buckle of this invention `utiliz/.es .indicia members which serve as and'iorm keeper elementslforthebelt at the buckle and are so arranged that in the case of initial letters, the material of'thebe'lt serves to provide a-background forthe -silhouette ofthe .initial letters. The buckle of this invention employs a -simply operable, .friction-type, locking key which is used toretain and secure the initial letters fromdisassembly 'with the buckle.

The primary object of this invention, therefore, is to y.disclose and'provide an improved arrangement or ,mounting means for removably securing and retaining selected, interchangeable, ornamental members or indicia in a desired relationship.

Anobject of this invention i-s to ldisclose andprovide 4an'improve'd belt buckle wherein a minimum number of .parts-areemployed to form abelt buckle.

dicia member against lateral, longitudinal and rearward displacement with respect to `the mounting member.

.Afstill Yfurther objecttof this invention-is1to provide'a lockingmeanslfor securing selected interchangeable indiciasmembers with respect to the mounting member.

A more specic object of this invention is to disclose and` provide a mounting member for removablyfcarrying selected indicia wherein themounting member is pro vided with a laterally arranged opening and aligned, centrally disposed, through passageway means on opposite sides of said opening, so that a locking element may be'slidably movable in said passageway means to-extend across said opening for retaining an-indicia member having a rearportion fitted within said opening.

4Other objects and advantages of this invention Ywill be readily .apparent vfrom the following description yof V'the drawings in which an exemplary embodiment -of the invention is shown.

In .the drawings:

.Pig`. 1 lis a perspective view offanexemplary belt buckle embodying this invention, a fragment of `.one of thev initial members being broken away. A

. `Fig.r.f.2 is a 4perspective view of av .base or mounting member used inthe beItbuCkleshOWn in Fig. l.

Fig. `.l-is-.aperspective view of the back portion of an .indicia member employed With the buckle shown in Fig.. 1.

Fig. 4.is.atransverse sectional view takenlin the-:plane indicated by line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Fig'. `5 Iis a sectional view taken in the ,plane indicated vby line 'V-V of Fig. 1.

.In the exemplary belt buckle generally indicatedat10, Fig.V "1, rit will be noted that the buckle .generally comprises four parts; namely, a base or mounting member 11, forv twov belt keeper indicia members 12, and .allockingmeans or key I3 to maintain the indicia members in .assembled relation with the mounting member :12. It is understood that while two indicia members I2 are shown, one or more of such indicia members may be-employed. Also while alphabet letters areillustrated so as -to yform initials of the user of such a belt buckle itis understood that various other insignia, indicia, and ornamental members maybe carried by mounting member 11 to provide a ldesiredV ornamental jewelry accessory other than a buckle.

v"Themoun'ting member l11 maybe made of suitable metal material and may 'be fabricated Yfrom one or more metal-parts. vinthe illustra-nomme metalparts' are' shown secured together in any suitable manner as by brazing, welding, or riveting.

The mounting member 11 may be of elongated generally rectangular shape and includes a top portion 15 provided with a bail member 16 atone end thereof for attachment to one end of a belt. The bailmember 16 is defined by an opening 17. Inwardly of the bail member 16 may be provided an upstanding tongue 18 which is adapted to engage a selected hole in the free end of the belt.

The top portion 15 may be `provided with two longitudinally spaced laterally extending rectangular openings 20, the openings 20 extending almost entirely across the member 15. Longitudinal side margins of the top portion 15 adjacent tolopenings 20 may be slightly depressed as at 21 so as to form a longitudinally extending centrally disposed, raised, or embossed section 22 which lies in a plane spaced from and parallel to the plane of the side margins.

A bottom portion 23 of rectangular form corresponding in pattern to the section of the top portion having the openings 20 may be secured to the top portion in any suitable manner. The at bottom portion 23 is likewise provided with laterally extending openings 20' corresponding to openings 20 and thereby forms with the central raised sections 22 of the top portion longitudinally aligned centrally disposed passageway means 24 extending from opposite sides of the openings 20 and opening thereinto.

It is understood that in the above description of mounting member 11, both top and bottom portions 15 and 23 may be suitably stamped from a single integral sheet of metal to form a mounting member 11. It is understood that the underlying bottom portion may be integral with one edge of the top portion and folded thereunder so as to produce the passageway means. Another way of making the mounting member may be to form the bottom underlying'portion integral with both longitudinal edges of the top portion and to fold outwardly extending metal portions rearwardly and into parallel face-to-face relation with the bottom surface of the top portion. Obviously, various other methods and means may be employed for making the mounting member 11 either from one integral sheet of metal as by stamping or by fabricating the member from several pieces of metal.

The indicia member 12 as mentioned above may include any suitable design or insignia. In the example, each indicia member 12 includes a front portion 26 suitably configured to represent a letter of the alphabet so that when a belt is passed beneath the front portion 26 the alphabet letter will be silhouetted thereagainst. The front portion 26 may be integral with rearwardly extending end walls 27 `spaced apart virtually the same distance as the width of mounting member 11. The end walls 27 serve to space the front portion from the mounting member so as to form in combination with the mounting member a keeper means for the free end portion of the belt. The end walls 27 may be infolded to form longitudinally extending flanges 27' lying in alplane parallel to portion 26 adapted to seat against and in the longitudinally extending parallel marginal depressions 21 formed in the mounting member 11. The flangesA 27' are thus seated upon the top surface portions of the mounting member and serve to prevent rearwardly displacement of the indicia member when assembled with the mounting member.

Each indicia member 12 may be of loop section and includes a rearwardly offset laterally extending strap-like portion 30 secured, as in the example, to the rear surface of flanges 27 and extending therebetween.` The strap-like portion 30 is shaped to correspond to the configuration of the opening 20 and is adapted to be accommodated within said opening when the indicia member is assembled with the mounting member. The offset portion 30 lies below the planar zone of passageway means 24 and the rear surface of the olset portion 30 lies generally in the same plane as the rear surface of the mounting member.

The accommodation of the rearwardly offset strap-like portion 30 within an opening 20 in the mounting member provides means for limiting lateral displacement of the indicia member with respect to the mounting member. In Fig. 4, it will be noted that the strap-like portion 30 is provided with longitudinally extending edge faces or shoulder 31 which are adapted to abut against the end walls defining opening 20. The abutment of shoulders 31 with the end walls positively limits lateral movement of the indicia member.

Means for limiting longitudinal displacement of the indicia member with respect to the mounting member is provided by abutment as at 33 of the side edge faces 34 of the rear strap-like portion 30 against side edges of opening 20 in the bottom potrion 23 of the mounting member.

Means for securing the indicia members after they have been positioned as above-described on the mounting member may include an elongated locking element or key 13 comprising a at bar 35 of generally rectangular form and having a width and depth readily accommodated within the passageway means 24. The locking bar 35 has a longitudinally extending centrally disposed slot 36 therein extending for substantially the entire length of the key. The slot 36 slidably receives a pin or rivet 37 which extends across the passageway means at the end of the mounting member opposite to bail member 16. The slot and pin arrangement prevents disassembly of the locking key from the mounting member while permitting the locking key to be fully extended outwardly from the mounting member so as to fully open and leave unobstructed the openings 20.

The locking bar 35 is arranged to be slidably movable within the passageway means 24 for substantially the entire length of saidpassageway means. The locking bar 35 extends over the rearwardly offset strap portion 30 of the indicia members and thereby positively holds the indicia members against disassembly by forward displacement of the indicia members from the openings 2t). The locking key is frictionally held in position by frictional engagement with the strap-like portion 3G of the Vindicia members and the internal surfaces of the passageway m'eans on the mounting member. Since the locking key is provided in a portion of the mounting member which is not visible when a belt is worn and which is not ygrasped by the user when unbuckling the buckle, it will be readily apparent that the locking key will positively secureand retain the indicia members in assembly with the mounting member.

The locking bar 35 may be provided with an eye 38 at one end thereof to facilitate withdrawing of the locking key from the passageway means. A suitable element such as the end of a pencil or nail may be inserted in the eye in order to provide a gripping or engaging means for withdrawing the locking key.

It is important to note that the assembly of indicia members on the mounting member is performed by dropping from the front selected indicia members into said pair of openings (with the locking key withdnawn or extended) in desired relationship so as to represent the initials of `the wearer. The indicia members readily position themselves because of the flanges 27 which seat against front surfaces of the mounting member and the cor-responding configuration of the rear strap-like portion 30 of the indicia member with the opening 20. After being seated in position in the mounting member the locking key is slidably m'oved through the passageway means and over the rear portions of the indicia members. This is easily .accomplished because the forward surface of the rear strap-like portion lies at or slightly below the planar zon'e of tlhe passageway means. The indicia members are thus securely retained on the mounting member and the example serve askeepers for the belt to maintain the tongue 18 Within a selected opening in the free end of the belt. It will be apparent that the indicia m'embers are securely held by simply constructed and positively operable means which kare invisible when the belt buckle is worn and which are not subject to displacement or wear when the belt buckle is being buckled or unbuckled.

It is understood that the indicia member may be made by stamping the member from a single sheet lof metal with the necessary shoulders and configuration of the rear strap-like portion. The strap-like portion in such an instance may be divided centrally so that the ends of the stamped blank of sheet metal may be folded inwardly.

It is understood that the exemplary iarrangement lof mounting an indicia member on a base member iior a belt buckle as above-described may als'o be employed land utilized in the mounting of various other ornamental forms and designs upon base or mounting members for lother purposes such las cult links or lother accessories for wear or display. It is understood `that the indicia member need not be formed as a keeper means for a belt and any ornamental design may be used.

It is understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure described above and all such modifications and changes coming within the scope lof the appended claims are embraced thereby.

I claim:

l. In a belt buckle, the combination of: an elongated mounting member provided with longitudinally spaced, laterally arranged, parallel openings and longitudinally aligned, centrally disposed, through passageway means on opposite sides of said openings; an .ornamental belt keeper member for each yopening having a rearwardly olset, strap-like portion tted within the associated opening and having a rear flange seated on front suraces of the mounting member, the oiset portion lying below and Yadjacent to the extended planar zone of said passageway means; and lan elongated locking key longitudinally slidable in said passageway means and :over each of said offset portions for holding said ornamental keeper member in assembled relation with the mounting member.

2. In a belt buckle, the combination of: lan elongated mounting member provided with a laterally arranged iopening and longitudinally aligned, centrally disposed passageway means on opposite sides of said opening; an ornamental belt keeper member for sad opening having a rear portion fitted within said opening and seated on front surfaces of the mounting member, the rear portion lying below the planar zone of said passageway means; a locking key slidlable in said passageway means over said rear portion for lrolding said ornamental member in `assembled relation with the mounting member; said locking key including a longitudinally extending slot; and said mounting member including a pin extending facross said passageway means and through said slot for retaining the key in assembly with the mounting member.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 590,668 McGee Sept. 28, 1897 1,135,726 Schiller Apr. 13, 1915 1,395,621 Wheatley Nov. l, 1921 l2,604,683 Gosselin July 29, 1952 

